Yesterday marked the ninth annual Spread the Word to End the Word Day, which aims to stop people from using the word “retarded” in any situation, and sadly days like this are still very much needed in today’s society. It’s been a long time since it was acceptable to use the R-word to describe a mentally challenged person, yet, according to a new poll, a surprising amount of people are still using it as an insult or to describe contempt for a person or object.
A new survey by the Harris Poll finds that 92% of adults and 91% of teens admit they’ve heard another person call someone the R-word, while 56% of adults and 47% of teens say they’ve heard people use the word to describe someone with an intellectual disability. What’s even worse, 27% of adults and 38% of teens don’t see anything wrong with using the word to describe a thing or situation.
On a positive note, at least most people don’t feel right when they hear the word being used. The survey finds that 47% of adults and 57% of teens say they feel bad/sorry when they hear someone being called the R-word, with 50% of adults and 51% of teen saying they told the person it was wrong to use it. What’s more, only 8% of adults and 7% of teens didn’t care when they heard someone called the derogatory term, although 23% of adults and 25% of teens said they did nothing when they heard it used.
People, at least, do feel a bit more strongly about the word being used to describe someone with an intellectual disability. In fact, 63% of adults and 70% of teens feel bad about it, while 59% of adult sand 68% teens told the person it was wrong to use the word.
Source: Harris Poll
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